"I don't think you ever make a conscious decision not to throw to one side of the field," McCarthy said Friday, according to ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky. "Frankly, it was more of a decision to put [wide receiver] Jordy [Nelson] on the left and see if [Sherman] would come over and play him. They played their defense and obviously they did a heck of a job. I'm sure they feel good about where they are today."

Nelson finished with nine catches for 83 yards, but Jarrett Boykin, the receiver Sherman covered most of the game, was never targeted.

Sherman, 24, had eight interceptions each of the last two seasons.

"I don't know if we shut [the Packers] down; they scored 16 points," Sherman said after the game. "[Rodgers] threw for [189 yards], and we don't like to give up those kind of numbers. They made it downfield a little bit."